Metin/Lesson 1
Greetings Metin etiquette makes 3 primary distinctions in the social sphere based on age and social distance, reflected in the three most common greetings. The Metin always adress those older than them as superiors as a sign of deference. Strangers of the same age or younger are adressed as equals. Informal language is used with friends and family members. Vocab raaCé ɬiú?: Hello (to a superior) ąątCé ɬiú?: Hello (to an equal or stranger) Cé?: What's up? (informal) momo: Yo. eSraatsoié: Goodbye (to a superior) ioSąąttsoié: Goodbye (to an equal) tsoié!: bye! ioCé!: bye! Intransitive verbs and equivalence Vocab bhaa: '''to be '''tsoié: to be doing fine (inransitive verb) kliǫ: to be bored kx'ieg: to be having fun goon: to be sitting láán: to be chatting, having a conversation. tąi: to be standing woh-': First person singular verb refix '''zhi-': who? (verb prefix) '''tsiid: who? im/iem-': I know because I saw it (evidential prefix) 'ǫl/uǫ-''': I've heard that (evidential prefix) '''Cé ... ɬiú: How is he/she? ɬiú: how? (adverb) ta: this Za: that bhei: which? yata: here yaZa: there yabhei: where? tsi-: '''prefix for people '''tsime: person tsibhi: woman tsitxá: man tsiyáang: young person tsiDúh: an older person tsiceɮ, ceɮ: '''A tall person, tall '''tsihúí, húí '''A short person, short '''tsisxį'į, sxįį: '''A skinny person, skinny/lanky '''tsigué, gué: '''A bulky person, big/large-framed (not quite the same as obese) '''uukliǫ: '''boring '''tsisuho': my friend (relational noun) tsisuhen: 'his, her friend '''tsigajúhoh: '''my student. '''mįkpai: '''a party Grammar Intransitive verbs Metin sentences usually start with a verb, which is then followed by the subject noun. The verb always has a subject prefix before it unless the subject prefix is third person singular. The verb also always has an evidential prefix before it, this indicates how the speaker found out about what they are saying in the sentence. The first two we will learn are '''ien-, '''which is used for events that the speaker saw/experienced themselves, and '''uǫl-', which is used for knowledge the speaker gained from hearsay. When the subject of the verb is in the first person the evidential prefixes are unnecessary for obvious reasons. '''wohtsoié: I'm fine uǫltsoié: (I hear that) He/she/it is fine. wohgoon: I'm sitting down iengoon tsibhi: (I see that) The man is sitting down wohláán: I'm having a conversation ienláán tsiyáang: (I see that) The young person is having a conversation Adjectives Adjectives and other words which describe nouns come after the noun they describe. When a verb is being used as an adjective an evidential prefix is not necessary. Demonstrative adjectives (like this or that) usually come last. tsiDúh ta: this elder tsibhi Za: that woman tsitxá kx'ieg : the man that is having fun tsisuhen láán: '''her chatting friend '''tsiyáang ceɮ ta: this tall young person tsiDúh húí Za: 'that short elder. Copula The verb '''bhaa '''is used to indicate that two nouns are the same. Adjectives in the predicate position must be converted into nouns to be used in this kind of sentence. ('céɮ '''to '''tsicéɮ, húí '''to '''tsihúí) wobhaa tsisuhen: I am his friend ienbhaa tsibhi Za tsiDúh: That woman is an elder However, bhaa '''is frequently ommitted. '''tsitxá láán tsiliiz: The chatting man is Liiz. tsime Za tsisxįį: '''That person is skiiny Questions Verbs in question sentences do not need to have evidential prefixes, however, when speaking to an elder, '''t'uos- '''is usually prefixed before the main verb of the sentence. '''Cé ɬiú tsiɮú?: '''How is Lyu? '''t'uosCé ɬiú tsiɮú?: '''How is Lyu? (asking an elder) '''zhigoon yata?: Who is sitting here? t'uoszhiláán yata?: Who is sitting here? (Asking an elder) tsiiid* tsime Za?: Who is that person? t'uoszhibhaa* tsime Za?: Who is that person? (asking an elder) tsiid is a noun meaning who, 'zhi- '''is a verb prefix meaning who Names Names are preceded by the prefix '''tsi- '''when used within a sentence, but are not used when adressing someone. Conversation Liiz and Lyu are at a party. Liiz is looking for his mentor Tas. Lyu is bored. '''liiz: momo ɮú ɮú: Cé liiz? liiz: wohtsoié. Cé? '''ɮú: wohkliǫ. mįkpai' uukliǫ''' liiz: ei*. yabhei tsitas? ɮú: iengoon yaZa, láán. liiz: mun*. ''' Liiz walks over to where Tas is sitting with Lyu. '''liiz: raaCé ɬiú tas? tas: wohtsoié. tsiid tsibhi ta? liiz: u*, tsuiya* tsisuho tsiɮú. tas: ąątCé ɮú. Liiz: t'uoszhitąi tsiyáang húí Za? tas: tsigajúhoh tsimuie. liiz: ei. ioSraatsoié!''' '''tas: tsoié! ei: OK/yeah u: oh/hmm mun: thanks/good tsuiya: This person. Used to introduce people, as in '''tsuiya tsitas: '''This is Tas. Category:Metin